The Daughter of Time (Ace of Queens #6)

Ch.3 Life's a beach

Chapter 3

For the next several weeks, Maya did not dare recite the spells anymore. At night she would lay still in her bed hearing whispers coming from under her bed. The books begged her to take them out. But every time Maya closed her eyes, she saw flashes of Fiza's still face and heard Emir's heart breaking, pleading for her to wake up.

Gemma, despite how well Maya acted, knew something was wrong. During training, the young girl could barely focus. She stumbled through spells she had mastered and new spells were a recipe for disaster.

"What kind of useless witch am I?" Maya screamed in frustration one day as she failed to lift a pencil and move it to the other side of the table.

"Hey," Exton frowned. "Don't say that."

"This stupid spell isn't working!" Maya stomped her feet and slammed the book down onto the table. "It's impossible! I've been working on it for days and I can't even get it to lift up a little bit."

"Come here," Exton motioned her over to where he sat on Gemma's desk.

"No," Maya groaned.

"Come here or I'll feed you to the pixies in the cellar."

Maya whined as she shut her book and stomped over like a five year old. Exton smiled as she stubbornly leaned against his chest and huffed.

"Go ahead, it's okay. You can try," he said as he stroked her hair.

"Noooo," Maya wrapped her arms around him as she turned her face to the side. She felt the irritation in her like an annoying itch. She wanted to scream and throw things around but she was really sure if that would even help.

"Dad," she looked up at her father.

"Yes?"

"I think I am going to explode."

"And leave all the inheritance for Adeline?"

"Stop it!" Maya pulled away and moved over to the chair. She sank down and kicked the table in front of her. "Can you please be serious for once?"

"I'm sorry," Exton said, trying to keep his smile in. "My apologize."

"Ugh!" Maya leaned back against the chair and let her arms hang by her side. She felt angry tears rise to her eyes and spill out the corner. "I am useless. I can't do magic. My life is over."

"Maya," Exton sighed as he took her hand and tugged.

"No,"

"Come here, you stubborn girl."

Maya picked up her head and frowned at her father. She watched as he pushed her chair back and knelt in front of her. He took both of her hands into his and placed a kiss on each.

"You are not useless. You are learning," Exton said looking into his daughter's eyes. "You are my strongest fighter. You are reliant and headstrong. Don't let a pencil defeat you."

"But I can't get the damn thing to levitate," Maya sighed.

"First of all," Exton chuckled. "Don't let mom hear you say damn and second of all...... you're just going to accept defeat?"

"No," Maya shook her head.

"Why not?"

"Because I'm a Dorin,"

"Which means?"

"Dorins never give up."

"That's right," Exton smiled. "We get what we want."